PHILIP the Second's last injunction to his son
Philip the Third bade him rule with justice and be
true to the Holy Catholic Faith. I shall not dwell
upon the political events of the latter's reign ( 1598-
1621). The war with Holland was interrupted for
a time by a truce, and that with England ended
on the accession of James I. But, war or peace,
there were always Dutch and English privateers,
pirates one might call them, hovering about the
Spanish Main, looking for a town to sack or a
galleon to scuttle. Peace was made with France;
the heir apparent married a French princess, and
Louis XIII a Spanish infanta. There was some
fighting with the Turks, there were some acts of
piracy committed against the Venetians, but nothing
of any great note. I proceed at once to the memo-
rable glory of Philip III's reign, the publication of
Don Quixote.

Of Cervantes ( 1547-1616) all the world may be
proud. He is the most lovable among the great
men of literature. Shakespeare's disposition was
serene and his apprehension godlike, but we know
little about him. Dante was a sort of archangel,
proud and stem; Molière was lovable and not with-
out a touch of the heroic; but Cervantes, serene,
heroic, not free from faults, and of uneven genius,

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